The present invention relates to an information receiving method capable of recording by reservation, and an information receiving apparatus using the same method.
When the broadcast starting time for a program reserved for the purpose of recording (hereinafter called a reserved program) is delayed, or when the broadcasting time of the reserved program is changed, and even if overlapped with the broadcasting time of other reserved program, the invention is intended to provide an information receiving method and an information receiving apparatus capable of selecting and recording a preferred program for the user. Moreover, when receiving service addition information introducing the content of the program beforehand, by automatically judging whether or not to reserve recording of the program indicated by this service additional information, the information receiving apparatus reserves recording automatically on the basis of this judgment.
Herein, the service additional information is the information necessary for reservation of a program recording, including, for example, the program name, summary of the program, broadcasting time, tariff information, distribution form, program genre, and others. The service additional information may be either distributed alone for introduction of the program, or distributed together with the contents of the program during distribution of the program as reference information.
If a broadcast program cannot be viewed in real time, it is a general practice to reserve recording of the program in the recording apparatus, and play it back later. If the broadcasting time of the program before this program reserved for recording, that is, the reserved program, is delayed, the method for recording the reserved program securely is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 7-65436 or No. 6-253221. If the recording start time is changed, the method of changing the reserved time is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-40977.
In the background of promotion of multiple-channel service by digital broadcasting, it is now possible to reserve recording of a program by utilizing a so-called electronic program guide (hereafter abbreviate EPG). However, if the EPG of all channels cannot be displayed on the display screen at the same time, it is not possible to confirm on the screen if plural programs are reserved in the same time zone, and duplicate reservation of recording may occur. Moreover, if plural people share one recording apparatus, if the EPG of all channels cannot be displayed on the display screen at the same time, it is very difficult to check all channels on the screen for reservation of programs by other people. To cope with this problem, there is a prior art for rejecting the instruction for reservation of recording of a program in a same time zone already reserved by others, and warning duplicate reservation to the user on the screen.
If the record starting time of such reserved program is changed due to change of broadcasting time of the preceding program or other reason, generally, the recording end time is changed at the same time. Accordingly, successively to a first reserved program, if a second program is reserved in other channel, in case the record end time is altered due to change of broadcasting time of the first reserved program, the recording time of the first reserved program and the recording time of the second reserved program overlap, and the overlapped portion of the second reserved program is not recorded.
For a third reserved program, if recording reservation for a fourth program is instructed in the same time zone as the broadcasting time of the third program, this instruction of fourth reserved program is not accepted, and overlapping of the time of the program is warned on the screen to the user, as mentioned in the prior art above. Once knowing the duplicate recording reservation on the screen, the user considers the priority of the programs, and manipulates again for reservation, which was very inconvenient.
In the prior art, the program to be newly reserved for recording cannot be selected automatically, and the user must select the program. Accordingly, the user must always check the information of many programs from the service additional information beforehand, and find the broadcast schedule of preferred programs.
It is hence an object of the invention to present an information receiving method and an apparatus using the same, capable of making necessary recording automatically, when the recording time of plural reserved programs is overlapped, by judging from the program information of the service additional information, and selecting and reserving the more preferred program for the user. It is also an object to present an information receiving method and an apparatus using the same, capable of reserving recording of a preferred program for the user automatically by using the service additional information.